Strength & Conditioninginterview

THE 1 BIKE FIT CHANGE THAT COSTS CYCLISTS WATTS | ROADMAN CYCLING

with Daryl Fitzgerald — World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport

36:31·26 January 2026

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DARYL FITZGERALD

World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

The most common amateur bike fit error is a saddle set 5–7mm too high. The "higher saddle = more power" idea ignores hamstring and lumbar flexibility, and the cost is rocking hips, dead glutes, and nose-of-saddle creep.
Adjust in 1mm increments, not 5–10mm. The change is small but the body feels it; "are my glutes firing on this stroke?" is the cue to track during the ride after a tweak.
Crank length is over-hyped. Some riders, especially taller athletes with long femurs, lose 20–30W when forced onto shorter cranks — test before you buy the trend.
Saddle tilt matters as much as height. Nose-up tilt loads the pubic area and causes the saddle sores most riders blame on the saddle model. Start neutral and adjust from there.
Switching between road, TT and gravel typically needs a 3–5mm saddle height adjustment to keep the same effective leg extension across the different seat-tube angles.

TOPICS

Everyone's spending money on aero helmets, 165mm cranks, integrated cockpits. Daryl Fitzgerald has done 750 bike fits in a single season as a World Tour fitter at Science to Sport in Jena, and he says the thing costing most amateur cyclists time and watts is a saddle that's 5-7mm too high. An Australian client dropped his saddle 7mm and went a minute faster on his regular 20km loop. Three watts. Same legs, same day, same road.

Key Takeaways

The villain here is the old 'higher saddle equals more power' idea that's been floating around cycling forums and bike shop quick-fits for 30 years. Fitzgerald says most amateurs set their saddle high because they've heard that's where the power is, but they haven't accounted for their hamstring or lower lumbar flexibility. When the saddle's too high, you posterior rotate, your glutes stop engaging properly, and you slide forward onto the nose of the saddle to compensate. You lose the power you thought you were gaining, your back hurts, and you look like a prawn. I had my own saddle running about 3mm too high for the guts of two seasons. No injury, so I assumed I was fine. Fitzgerald's point is that the injury threshold and the efficiency threshold are two completely different things. You can clear the first one and still be leaving 15-20 watts on the table without ever knowing.

The fix is boring, which is how you know it works. One or two millimetres at a time. Feel whether your glutes are engaging through the pedal stroke. If your lower back pressure drops and you stop rocking at the hips, you've found something. Fitzgerald also flagged saddle tilt as the other thing almost nobody gets right. Tilt it nose-up even slightly and you shift all the pressure onto the pubic area, which is exactly what causes saddle sores that send people to doctors who've never heard of pressure mapping. Neutral to start, then adjust based on what the body tells you. It's the same principle as anything in training — you don't copy what the pros are doing and expect it to work on a body that doesn't move the same way.

Daryl Fitzgerald, World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport in Jena, Germany, conducted approximately 750 bike fits between October and June in a single season. Fitzgerald states that saddle height set too high is the most common error among amateur cyclists, typically caused by insufficient hamstring or lower lumbar flexibility that prevents riders from maintaining the position. In a documented case, a 7mm reduction in saddle height produced a 3-watt power increase and a 1-minute improvement on a 20km time trial loop for an amateur Australian client. Fitzgerald notes that changes as small as 2mm can significantly affect rider comfort and performance, and that leg length discrepancies of 5-10mm are common and complicate saddle height recommendations. He also reports that shorter cranks (165mm) cause 20-30 watt power losses in some taller athletes with long femurs, and that changing between bike types with different seat tube angles typically requires a 3-5mm saddle height adjustment.

If this is the first time you've thought seriously about position, the five fixable bike fit mistakes episode covers the other stuff Fitzgerald didn't get to here. And if your power has been flat despite consistent training, the masters cyclists episode looks at what's actually holding performance back after 40.

5 Exercises Pogacar Always Does Before A Ride

CLAIMS FROM THIS EPISODE

Each tagged with the strength of evidence behind it.

EXPERT
Daryl Fitzgerald, World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport in Jena, conducted approximately 750 bike fits between October and June in a single season.
Source: Daryl Fitzgerald, interviewed on the Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
An amateur Australian client dropped his saddle by 7mm and rode a regular 20km time trial loop a full minute faster at the same power output (a 3W variation between the two efforts).
Source: Daryl Fitzgerald, case described on the Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Some elite athletes switching to 165mm cranks have lost 20–30W immediately, with power restored when their previous cranks were re-fitted on the same session.
Source: Daryl Fitzgerald, case described on the Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Saddle height set beyond a rider's functional hamstring and lumbar range causes pelvic rocking and forward sliding, reducing glute engagement and pedalling efficiency rather than increasing power.
Source: Daryl Fitzgerald, World Tour bike fitter, interviewed on the Roadman Cycling podcast
EXPERT
Switching between bike types with different seat tube angles typically requires a 3–5mm saddle height adjustment to maintain consistent effective leg extension.
Source: Daryl Fitzgerald, interviewed on the Roadman Cycling podcast

KEY QUOTES

“I had an Australian client last week. He did they got this 20k time trial loop that they do every Tuesday or every second Tuesday. He sent me a video. I said, 'Your saddle's a touch too high.' He literally dropped it by I think it was 7 mm. The same loop for three watts difference. He went a minute quicker.”
Daryl Fitzgerald — World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport

“I've had one or two clients like elite athletes back home in South Africa go to shorter cranks and lose 20 30 watts immediately. I say put your old cranks back, do the same session, straight back to normal.”
Daryl Fitzgerald — World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport

“Don't don't be scared, but don't go five or 10 mm at a time. Go one mm at a time. It may only sound a little bit, but you'll definitely feel the effects. And for me, try and do little things like when you're riding, feel if your glutes are working.”
Daryl Fitzgerald — World Tour bike fitter at Science to Sport

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT8 SECTIONS

The saddle height mistake

I sat down in Jerome and chatted with World Tour bike fitter Daryl Fitzgerald and we talked about the mistakes that amateurs make when setting up their bikes because most amateurs think they have nailed their bike setup. But there's one mistake almost everyone makes and it could be the reason you're developing niggling back or knee pain. Welcome to the podcast Daryl Fitzgerald. I'm here in Science to Sport with Daryl Fitzgerald, one of the best bike fitters in the game. you've co you've bike fit some you know insane Olympians world tour riders every day Joe and Jane so kind of what I want to do today in this cool backdrop it's just pick your brain a little bit and figure out what's the common mistakes that amateurs like me are making with our bike fit and hopefully you can give us a bit of uh insight into that yeah I think uh yeah thanks for having me um there's a there's a bit of a surprise John I was like you're doing a podcast with Roman I was like when he's my man down. Thanks. Thanks for the It's a cool setting here. So, thanks for hosting us. Anyone coming to Jona, they need to come and check out this place. Now, what have we got? Whose cheers is that in the background? Ted, we got Rogick. Um, Greco, I think that's Lorenzo Finn's world championship jersey. Yeah. Matt Beers. Yeah. So, it's it's insane what you guys have built here. It's absolutely brilliant. You've seen a lot of bike fits. Y in would you even stick a number on how many bike fits you've seen in the thousands? Yeah, I think I think this year I think I measured we like did a rough calculation from October last year to May May June when everyone went to summer break it was close to like 750 fits. Wow. Okay. So I'm maybe I'm going to miss something on this, but let me science the mistakes that if I look at an amateur straight away, a couple of things jump out at me. The first one's always saddle height. What's the biggest mistake amateurs are making around saddle height? Normally too high. Um, everyone get told the higher the saddle, the more power you produce and the more arrow you can get on on the drop. But, uh, biggest mistake they don't take into consideration hamstring flexibility, lower lumbar flexibility. Is their body enable to hold that position? If not, they're going to be sliding forward on the saddle, rotating pelvis, and that's when you get that hip rock. Is that the rotation? That's when you get the hip rock. And then also, you look like a prawn on the bike because you can't reach the handlebars anymore. So, the only way to do it is slide all the way forward on the front of the saddle. So, your saddle height is probably the number one mistake that we do see. Um, and then it's slam the stem to be arrow. Do you remember the old test? I can't remember what book I read this in. It might have been like a Joe Freel training bible or something back in the day where they used to say, "Clip out of the pedal, put your heel on the pedal." Yeah. And you should be at full extension when your heel is in the pedal. So, how bad of a voice is that? Yeah. So, that's it's if you your saddle drops for some reason and you don't have a tape measure, like that'll get you pretty accurate to where where you could be. But then the question is what happens if you have a leg length discrepancy of five to 10 mil which I've seen quite often. So your saddle's either going to be too high on the short side or very too low low on the other side. But is there is everyone sensitive to this? I've you know I've been riding like I don't know since probably started racing 2010 got I think I got my C one license mid 2010 for the first time. So, I've been probably riding the bike 15 10 to 15 hours a week with a few years interspersed to a higher mileage fulltime. I've never had a bike fit. I'll just kind of even coming over here now. I'll have the bike in the bag and I'll take it out tomorrow and I'll just be like, "Looks kind of right." And, you know, I'll go a couple of K down the road, a feels a little bit too high. And I'll take the Allen key out and tweak it. It's definitely a different saddle height every time I travel. But, it doesn't seem to annoy. I've never had an injury, you know, touch wood. Yeah. Um, so it's it is quite a sensitive area where some people are very sensitive to change and others not. We've had some some athletes in Y change literally 2 mm and they absolutely hate it saddle change. Take it down one tell me it's the best bike fit they've ever had.

Adapting position for efficiency

Is it flexibility that determines that? Flexibility does determine like it does help. Um but also the experience from the person how like when they go riding are they someone that used to stop often and change 1 mm 2 mm 1 millm it's never big changes it's either one or 2 mm shell there and it's the same on the cleat as what they're changing that that could change your saddle height ever so slightly is like a is adaptability is that is that a term or do I just create 100% so the human body is an amazing thing it can adapt to position and you may not get injured, but when you look when you break it down to more scientific side of things is how efficient or how economic is has the body become now. Yes, if you're too high and you you posterior rotate, your glutes aren't working as well as they they could be. You get that more muscle recruitment like that accumulation will drop. Your breathing efficiency will go up. So overall, you become way way more economical on the bike. Okay. So, we're looking at different thresholds. Like you have a threshold, the lowest one to clear is, okay, I have a bike fit now that I'm not going to get injured on because I seem to be somewhat adaptable, but I'm not clearing the second threshold of actually maximizing my, you know, I could be leaving 10, 15, 20 watts on the table, but just by being totally ignorant of bike fair 100%. I uh actually I had an Australian client last week. He did uh they got this 20k time trial loop that they do every Tuesday or every second Tuesday. He sent me a video. I said, "Your saddle's a touch too high." He literally dropped it by I think it was 7 mm. The same loop for three watts difference. He went a minute quicker. Unbelievable. But consolation for me is I was at least 100 watts away from getting to the world tour, not 20 watts. So that's great. I didn't I didn't miss out on here. Uh the other one I see if I'm out on a club run and you know you're kind of just everyone does this test whether you're world tour or you just bought a bike. You ride past the shop window and everyone's checking themselves out the shop window. See how good they look. Yeah. But when I'm on the club run I almost become the shop window. I'm looking at everyone's bike fit and a he's what's he doing? What's he up to? Did he do himself or he get a pro bike fit? Reach is another one I see. Yeah. I rarely see someone that their reach looks nice. The old test again it's probably the same place I read the saddle height one that I used to think was the handlebar maybe this is less appropriate now we've moved from cylindrical handlebars to arrow ones but the handlebar when it was round used to obscure the hub when you were in the hoods correct that was an old test then what's the thinking on this now and what proportion of people you seeing long versus short um again it it boils down to flexibility and how well someone can rotate a pelvis us anteriorly where we want it to go. But then you get someone that's hyper mobile and over rotates too much. You can make them aggressive, but then they have a lot of pressure on the pelvic floor on the pubic pubic area. And so then that's a different situation altogether. Then you need to kind of give them strength work and train them to be in a more posterior rotation so they're not putting all that pressure on the front of the saddle. Is that one of the main causes of saddle source? Um, I'd say yes. Um, if the reach is too far, a lot of people slide to the front of the saddle and then they sitting pretty much on that and not on the saddle at all. So, there's a lot of rocking and rolling in between. So, it's not always necessarily a pressure point that that causes a saddle saw. It could be rubbing and that rubbing breaks the skin and that skin can just get irritated and people start moving around in different positions. We were talking about this offer my my partner Sarah who co-hosts the podcast with me, she trained last year for Badlands and you know the mileage is obviously going up when you're going towards an ultra but she spoke about on the podcast and she got so many emails and messages from girls at all levels going, "Oh my god, the exact same thing's happening to me. horrific saddle source to the point I think she you know multiple courses of antibiotics back to the doctor quite a few times with a doctors don't fully understand cycling either. So it's a it's a difficult conversation to have like they're they're not telling you to get one saddle versus another.

Finding the right saddle

They don't know what pressure mapping is. It's 100% and and not there isn't one saddle that works for everybody. It's as as many as fits as we have done. um one saddle would be absolutely amazing for one person, the next person walks through the door and it is absolutely terrible. So, it's you can't pinpoint and say that's the best saddle to get. That's a hard answer, isn't it? It's a little bit of trial and error um sometimes, but we do get athletes that come in with their saddles, get on and it's perfect. But then when you get into sort of teams and stuff when they're sponsored by a saddle company, they don't have many options to to play with, which I think gets quite tricky tricky then as well. So even just to journey back and recap these first couple and talk about fixes for this like fixes that someone could implement at home rather like I know the ultimate fix is get a bike fit you know haul yourself over to your own and get a bike fit if you're unsure as saddle height would you disregard that test would you move to AI software is there a quick fix at home like AI software does it really pick up the points when you're at bottom dead center at top dead center that you've got the correct hip angle or or knee angle. Um, it is partly accurate. I wouldn't say it's 100%. Um, but otherwise you could use the the the heel method, but then also just play a little bit. Don't don't be scared, but don't go five or 10 mm at a time. Go one mm at a time. It may only sound a little bit, but you'll definitely feel the effects. And for me, try and do little things like when you're riding, feel if your glutes are working. You definitely feel like when they when they activate and they they're engaging properly, you'll without a doubt feel that glute working. Then you know, okay, this feels pretty good. Um, and then immediately you'll feel pressure reduced off your lower back, stuff like that. Because when you're posterior rotated, your back, nine times out of 10, it's always my lower back sore. The tricky thing with this is everyone wants a neatly wrapped solution, but what I'm kind of hearing from you is it's so interconnected. It's like you move the saddle up, it has an effect somewhere else, like an externality down the chain. Have you seen this happen with the trends? You know, British Cycle been pushing 165 cranks since London 2012. Pogy moves to 165 cranks and they're sold out. Sham can't keep them on the shelves anymore. Al Alejandro Valver has been running 165 cranks pretty much his whole life. Did he and he finished podium about 40 monuments. So yeah, it's it's weird like the crank story is just it's that's a whole podcast just on its own. I think is does it work for everyone? No. Does it work for some people? 100%. So it's it it goes to the same thing as a a settle. It doesn't work for everybody. When we say work, what are we talking about? Are we talking about comfort? Are we talking about extra comfort, performance, everything? I've had one or two clients like elite athletes back home in South Africa go to shorter cranks and lose 20 30 watts immediately. I say put your old cranks back, do the same session, straight back to normal. And can you is it like a leg length issue? The leg length does play a big role. Like if someone's really tall, long femurss, the the shorter crank doesn't work too well. It does the shorter crank does work for stockier shorter shorter riders. Definitely. Um but yeah, I try and say tell people if you have the option to test, test it before you just be I have to have 165 cranks. Test it for your like me and just stick an order in for your Shamre 165. Yeah. someone like yourself with really long legs, like I don't know if it would really work for you. Just something you'd have to try and just cuz they did move to 165 last year. But again, back to that saddle height thing, like I remember getting coming back into the Irish setup on the track for par to be a pilot on the tandem a few years ago. And the previous tandem pilot was like two and a half inches taller than me. And I just jump on the bike and the stoer on the back be like, "Did you change that satellite?" like that. He's like that much out. I wouldn't even notice until like 3k into the pursuit. Yeah. I didn't notice anything really on the crank change that everyone was talking about when I went from 175 to 165. I changed my saddle height a little bit. Yeah. But I didn't really notice much if I'm totally honest in either direction. Even with this the crank length, you don't always necessarily need to change the saddle height because you've gone short.

Crank length and power myths

Some people adapt really well and you don't maybe change one or two millimeters, but just because it's you've gone the five or 10 doesn't mean you have to change settle that whole five or 10. Why is the theory flawed? Cuz you know back in the day it was almost like the Arimedes give me a lever big enough and I'll move the world. It's it was this idea that if we have a longer lever Yeah. you have more torque torque. Correct. Where did that fall apart? I think like for to be honest, I don't know where it fell apart. Um I think I mean you you take a track sprinter, they all run short cranks to 155. So yes, you generate power a lot faster. You get to peak power a lot quicker, but to hold that power, you still have to create force through the pedals. So the only way to still create that force is probably go bigger chain ring because your RP your RPM is going to increase from five between five and 10 watts. So it's if you're someone that already runs high cadence, you go short on cranks and then you're running an extra 5 to 10 RPM more. How much force and power can you still It's turned into a math problem. Yeah. It's like I'm sure there is a someone that's a data scientist listening will Yeah. actually definitively have an answer. I did hear that I'm not sure how true this is. I didn't hear it from any sort of credible source that Yonas that they messed up remember TT he got absolutely pasted in the tour by TA was the first TT this year I think they messed up the crank length calculation they went too big on the chain ring and too short on the crank. Yeah, something like that. That's what I heard now. Um but a guy that would be really good at this is probably um Dan Bingham from Yeah, Adam on the podcast. interesting. He's uh he's an engineer. That's that's that's his job. He'll he'll be able to give you the best answer for had that on. I can't remember if I talked to him about it, but yeah. No, super interesting that on a number of fronts. A few weeks ago, Angelo Poli of Metro joined us on an episode. It was episode 1231, five tips to speed up your metabolism. And the response to that episode was absolutely huge. Some of the biggest response we've had to a podcast all year. A lot of you reached out with DMs and questions and feedback. So, MetPro on the back of this has joined us as a show sponsor. If you missed that episode, I'll link it in the show notes down below. Now, if you're watching this, you already train smart. You've dialed in your workouts, your power numbers, maybe even your recovery protocols. You're tracking intervals. You're watching your training stress score, paying attention to your sleep. But here's the thing that most athletes still overlook in my experience, their metabolism. And that's where MetPro comes in. MetPro is performance coaching platform designed to help athletes optimize their metabolism for peak performance. Because no matter how good your training plan is, if your body isn't fueling, recovering, and adapting efficiently, you're leaving performance on the table. MetPro coaches analyze your unique metabolic profile, how your body processes fuel under stress, and it uses that data to build personalized nutrition and training strategy that evolves as your training load and goals change. For cyclists, that means fueling smarter on hard days and recovering between sessions and more consistency across long training blocks. Right now, Roadmand Cycling listeners can get a complimentary metabolic profiling assessment plus a one-on-one consultation with a MetPro coach. Just go to www.metpro.coman. That's me tpo.co m. I'm going to leave that link in the description down below. Cleat position is maybe after I go saddle height reach. Cleat position is the next one I see people not just kind of bang them in the center and don't really give much for thought to. Yeah. So I think going over the past couple years everyone's cleats all the way back because that's where you got the the most stability on your foot. Um but for me and for us at science sports here we do we start in a neutral position between the first and fifth metatarsal and then let the guys ride and say where do you feel your strike point? Do you feel like you want the cleat going forward back heel in or heel out just because we say it's neutral and that's the way it should be. Our feet are not in the pedals pushing. So do they feel like it maybe they're too much on their toe or it feels too far back? Then we adjust it to where they feel pretty pretty comfortable. Is numb feet just a function of cleat position? Uh not necessarily. Some shoes if shoes are too narrow for you will definitely cause some numb feet.

Numb feet on ultra rides

I don't know if you've ever experienced when on a hot day going up your feet just go numb. You loosen the shoe and it feels great again. That's why you see all the new shoes Nimble Bond Specialized. Yeah, I've got the Nimble this year. All going super wide toe box. Um, it's just helped the foot strike point be a lot better and you're not squashing the foot up. Bad lands this year. Like I was out with the pedals going down the sense honestly like rest of my feet on the shoe going down the sense. They were that bad. I was like I'd stop for like a a coke walking to the shop. I'd have to take my shoes off walking into the shop. Like the pain was unescribable. And I'd never now obviously going and riding for four days with no sleep is going to is going to amplify a few everything's going to start deteriorating. What? Oh, we were doing this Wes is actually videographer behind the camera was with us uh documenting Badlands. But there was one point we're going up this climb and I don't know if the GPX file is totally accurate. It looked like it was the top and I was right if it's there and it was sort of a big goal to get through it. So I was just kind of, you know, there for a motivational pep talks, but we got to the top of the climb, but it turned out wasn't the top of the climb and it was like a pseudo someone goes again just lost her mind like gets the bike, throws it on the ground. F this event, f you. F cycling. But that's a a factor of all those little things. It's the it's the sore feet from may or may not be clean position. Yeah, definitely. The two things that really hit me for Badlands position wise, and anyone that's doing an ultra can probably speak about it is the feet and the hands. Yeah. Fingers. Lackl Morton was on the podcast last month. And he was saying just two of his fingers are just gone. He's just kind of wrote them off like a mate that he lost back in the day. Just won't feel them again. I remember when I did Cape Epic I think three years ago like I'd never had bike foot issues and then for like two three weeks afterwards like my toes and fingers are also because I'd never done something like that. So it boils down to I think a number of things and not one thing that identifies it. Having a good bike fits, having good coaching and everything together helps you. But when you're doing something like bad lands and that when you're getting that deep into the race, nothing really helped you by the time. It just it just delays that that pain or or anything. You're right. It just it amplifies everything. Like a jersey that I'd ridden in, you know, probably a hundred times before. Never had an issue with it. All of a sudden, three days in, the label is shafing. You're like, I've never noticed that label in my life. 100%. So yeah, obviously having a good bike, good training, everything just delays it a little bit longer, but when you're doing doing what those ultra events, something's some something's got to give. If you think about you holding handlebars, you're sitting on a saddle this big and your feet are clipped. What is it? The compression of nerve in your hand. Is that what gives? Yeah, 100%. You got two nerves or veins that run through here. And if you're constantly on that point there, it's that's why you see guys that do badlands like like Bartholomew and them, they put the TT bars on on 19. I seen that as rolling out. I was like, that's a good idea. And then guys double wrap their their bars obviously relax their foot as well. They don't run too aggressive. You don't want to be putting a lot of pressure or anything on the hand. So you kind of need to adapt your your bike fit a little bit for something like that as well. Be a little bit more relaxed. For anyone that hasn't done that stuff, the calculation is different. Like if you're a performance driven athlete, maybe the calculation you're trying to make with arrow bars is okay, there's obviously an arrow pen penalty to using arrow bars if you're not in the bars. Yeah. So the calculation they're maybe making is, okay, what percentage of the race do I need to be in the bars to have a net gain in using these bars? But it's actually not the way you should be thinking about it. It's a different hand position. Oh yeah. Yeah% the pain will be a limiter for you. Yeah. People scratch these races because their hands and feet get too bad. 100%. Or their neck. We seen one dude with like a like a broomstick duct taped holds his neck up.

Saddle tilt and setup basics

Yeah. Just that shut down. people clearly love their bikes more than I do. Um, but that's why you even see some guys go away from from mountain bike pedals and actually ride the road pedal cuz there's a bit more surface area just to disperse some of that pressure. So yeah, look have a wider pedal with on the gravel. This is the look carbon Kio and it's a wider mountain bike pad. Not quite roadwide, but it's a little bit wider. Uh, I'm trying to think of the other parts of the bike fit that I've missed. saddle forward and aft position and saddle tilt. Um, saddle tilt's also quite a quite a common one we see especially if someone's got a very big drop or long reach. They normally tilt it quite a bit so that they not putting too much pressure on the on the pubic area. Um, so then typically we like to lower the saddle, then lift the saddle up and get them more comfortable because as you rotate forward on the saddle, your isial tuberosity obviously gets a little bit narrow. And if that saddle's pointing up, you've just got all that pressure on your pubic area. So your saddle tilt is is probably one of the a bigger common problem we do see. Um, would you stand as a starting point as neutral like spirit level on Uh yes, we try and keep it neutral to start off with, especially if you see someone where before we change anything on the bike, we do videos for before and after and the measurements. And sometimes if it's just literally the saddle's two degrees up too much, it causes them to almost push themselves back and and rotate the pelvis just to keep pressure off the front of the saddle. I know it's not objectively a best saddle because it's quite individual. Yeah. But you see the same patterns like the, you know, there's not objectively a fastest time trial helmet, but if you put a hundred people in all the different helmets, there's two or three cast comes out, cask arrow helmet comes out quite fast. Pox arrow helmet comes out quite fast. Do you see the same patterns emerging with saddles? Yeah, 100%. um like the almost a new crate I think it's a wo saddle and this is the wider it's the wider one full carbon one and what we have seen of it in here that I've tested on people has actually been pretty pretty good for everyone that we've seen but I guarantee someone it's not going to work. Um but there's so many saddles now to try and have all of them in stock to test. Is it Is it a shape or is it a pattern that makes the saddle? cuz I'm using the a small Slovenian company. I love them though. Uh Burke composites and the p the saddles it's like look as hard as the iPad but I find extremely comfortable. No 100%. So and that's where it's individualized to so many people. Some people like a bit of soft cushion and that that's where the the 3D printed ones are coming in like quite popular. Um it's it's got to do with shape um size. Not everyone's pelvis or hips are the same. So saddle width super important. I see that a lot. A lot of people have the saddle too narrow and then when they're sitting on the saddle, the saddle's just inside the sitbones and they're just having huge pressure points. You give them a 10 mm or 5 mm wider saddle and it changes everything for them. What's the what's the myths around bike fit that you you wish you could just dispel? Is there any like industrywide myths that people kind of fall into? Arrow is not always faster. That'll be the biggest myth because if you go and hold the position, you're not going very fast. Yeah. Yeah. That Yeah, that's a good I do see that one a lot. The the super aggressive positions. Yeah. One I see as well, and this is like hypocritical for me come someone that's never had a bike fit, but our bodies change so much. Like I don't have the same flexibility now that I did when I was 25. No, definitely not. So, but you do see people that get a bike fit and then they think like getting their driving license one and done. It's like, "Yeah, I'm done." But you're in the gym and you're 5 kilos heavier or you're on ompic and you're 40 kg lighter. Like you're two different people. Yeah. 100%. And as an athlete or especially an amateurs, their volume increases or they change their bike and they think, "Oh, it's a road bike. I just get same saddle height." But Cat tube angle change from an arrow bike to a gravel bike to a relaxed to to just a climbing bike. So if you just go measure the same saddle is going to probably be 3 to 5 mm different just just that alone.

Road versus gravel fit

So yo as humans we change all the time. If you're doing 20 hours a week, get injured, and then you can't ride for two, three years, then you come back, you you're not going to run the same position you did two, three years ago or even three months ago. What about discipline to discipline? Like I'm jumping almost based on the weather living in Ireland, what bike I'm riding. So I go, I know the mountain bike is a totally different thing, so maybe let's park that one. But road and gravel bike, I'm almost using interchangeably. Like if it's I look out the window and it's been sub-zero overnight and I know I have to get started at eight. I'm like, "Oh, I'm better off having the gravel bike with the, you know, the T80 Victoria tires on mud tires on it for a bit of grip." So, in terms of saddle height, you can set the the gravel and road bike almost identical where it does change as a stack heights are quite different on the front end of the bike. gravel is always going to be a little bit more relaxed compared to your your your um error road bike. So, should I look to get them the same? Uh no, I wouldn't. I keep the the the gravel bike a little bit more relaxed cuz the handling characteristics are so different from the gravel to the road as well. The geometries are different in terms of wheelbase length. That is very different. handlebar weight. Even the stem length can change your handling characteristics on a gravel bike. Too much of a long stem, you're going to be over steering way too much. Feel like you're turning a double-decker bus. What's a pain in the ass with the bike industry at the moment and I know there's good arrow reasons and aesthetic reasons for it, but the integrated stem handlebars. Like for someone that wants to change their bike fits, like you can't just go down to your local bike fitter with a basket full of stems now and try everything from 80 to 140. A new set of handlebars is like 900 quid. Exactly. So it's not a it's not a cheap operation either. So that's it even makes it difficult for us as bike fitters is like guy comes in here and he needs a longer stem. What do we tell him? It's like m you got to go and spend like €500 to go and buy a new handlebar. And so what's the fix around that? Can you play with So we obviously do we do yes and no. Sometimes you play with four and after and it doesn't do anything. They just need that longer reach. So sometimes you can't you can't work around it. Um we do have equipment now where we can show them. Okay, here's 10 mm or 20 mill mm longer and they see instantly it's better. So yeah, it's it's such a tough one. What's the couple of arrow tweaks you would make to somebody coming in? Like e lowh hanging fruit for somebody that's looking to get more arrow. Um come up on their handlebars to a position you can hold to a position they can hold. Not only that is when you do come up and everyone now wants to ride in this arrow tuck position because they can't put their elbows on the bars anymore. It just enables them to rotate a little bit and actually sit in that position and hold it where if it's too far down, they're sliding forward, their head's way below their hips and they two three minutes and then they sitting up again. So I also notice when people go super low on the front that the head goes down but it pops the back up and like it without looking at any airflow charts on it just looks like the air is coming on. It's catching it's catching the back and slowing you down. So I mean you see the way TTS have gone how everyone's come up on the front so they can keep that super straight back and you're not like that shoulders not open everything's closed off as much as you can just to break that close that surface area up in the front. Would you jump on the trainer and just film that on your phone? Yeah. Um, we used to do a a poor ass student and trying to figure out how to go fast in time trials. We'd go out with as many time trial helmets as we could get our hands on. We go to the top of a hill, get into the position, take a picture of the position and just small little push and hold the position and then mark it with chalk down. Come back up, new helmet, mark it with chalk and we go. The pock helmet's a little bit faster. So obviously things have become a lot more accessible for for bike fitters, trainers, whatever. You can buy aerosenter stuff.

Aero testing for amateurs

Now we've actually purchased so we're going to start doing some error testing. What are you using? Um we're using aerosenter from the UK. Um so yeah, I mean there's there's so much in terms of power meters. You got VO, there's SRM, there's so there's ways of testing how error you can get. um and test different products. Everything's so accessible now. It's not just for the elite anymore. And funny enough, you get you get your age group and stuff that that wants that same treatment as going to the track. But they do because the thing is like and I'm getting into that demographic now where I would have never understood it. But it's like my goals are just as important to me as TA's goals are to him. Exactly. I don't care if he wins the tour or not. I care if I win that local Wednesday night. Put a helmet on at the race. So guys want to improve whether it's from a coaching, nutrition, bike foot, aerot testing equipment. Everyone wants to improve. Since getting back into training, the biggest thing that's hit me isn't fitness, it's fueling. I used to finish rides totally wrecked. I'd come through the door, collapse on the couch, scroll through Instagram, and call it recovery. But now that I'm actually fueling properly, and that's anywhere from 80 to 120 grams of carbs an hour, depending on the session, it's a completely different story. I'm coming home from training feeling fresh, and my power data throughout the ride supports this. I can actually function when I get off the bike. It's honestly blown me away how big a difference that proper fueling makes. When I started fueling right, I realized just how good I could actually feel on the bike. a daily staple in my training now. It's for endurance because I know exactly what I'm putting into my body. Every product is designed for performance. It's tested in real racing and it's used by the very best from Olympians to tour to France riders. It's the same science just without the luxury brand markup. Seriously, jump over to their site and check out the prices. You'll be absolutely blown away. It's real fuel, unbeatable price, great taste, no gut issues. Like, that's a winning combo for me. For endurance, built on science, proven in sweat. Check them out at for insurance.com and start fueling smarter. I'm going to put the link in the description down below cuz I think ultimately a lot of people, not everyone, but a lot of people are trying to answer the question, how good can I be? Full stop. Now I've kind of had to slightly reframe the question and I'm saying you know we're building this little community of people called over on a school community we're building called not done yet and this is more for people that have like built a career or a family and they want to see how good I can be but within a container and that container is normally a time related container. I've got how good can I be with 10 hours a week? How good can I be with 12 hours a week? It's not how good can I be full stop because that kind of a fast path to divorce and bankruptcy. But it's an interesting new challenge, but it's it's massively important to people. Yeah. No, no, 100%. Uh it's they may have not raced or been able to race when they they were younger like some of us that were fortunate to do some racing. They found the hobby and they absolutely love it. It's also healthy for them. So yeah, not maybe sometimes the bank account to a point, but like they find a passion for it. They find a good community. It's a good social thing. And normally the kids end up following. So yeah, it's it ends up being a whole family affair and the passion comes with it. So they want the best that they can get. Like there's something cool when you find your passion in life. Whether it's sport or it's academia or whatever it is, you find your passion, but then there's real magic happens when you find your passion and you find a tribe of other people who are also into the same passion. Those two hit heads and it's like time disappears. You go and you meet the lads for a two-hour group ride and ends up in six. H Darl, really enjoyed this chat. Mike F. We're going to be back for a part two. We're going to do a bit of a coaching deep dive, I believe. I'm looking forward to that

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How do I know if my saddle height is too high on my road bike?+

The clearest sign is a rocking pelvis at the bottom of the pedal stroke, which indicates you are reaching beyond your hamstring and lumbar flexibility. Daryl Fitzgerald, who conducted around 750 bike fits in a single season, says most amateur cyclists are sitting 5 to 7mm too high without realising it. A qualified fitter assessing your flexibility under load is the most reliable way to confirm this.

Does a higher saddle position produce more power on a bike?+

No, and this is one of the most persistent myths in cycling. Daryl Fitzgerald explains that a saddle set beyond your functional flexibility actually costs watts by forcing the pelvis to compensate, reducing pedalling efficiency. One of his clients lowered his saddle 7mm and rode a 20km time trial one minute faster at exactly the same power output.

What is the most common bike fit mistake amateur cyclists make?+

According to World Tour fitter Daryl Fitzgerald, the single most common error is a saddle set too high, typically by 5 to 7mm. This tends to go unnoticed because riders assume more height equals more power, but the opposite is true once you exceed your hamstring and lumbar range of motion. Slammed stems and excessive reach are frequent secondary problems caused by the same underlying flexibility limits.

How much does saddle height affect cycling performance in a time trial?+

Even a small adjustment can produce significant results. Daryl Fitzgerald cites a client who dropped his saddle by just 7mm and improved his 20km time trial time by a full minute without increasing his power. The gain came entirely from improved aerodynamic position and more efficient pedalling mechanics once the height matched his actual flexibility.

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